7,000 vie for 859 jobs at city’s new Primark store

Jul 18 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

MORE than 7,000 people have applied for 859 jobs on offer at Liverpool’s huge new Primark store, which is due to open in September.

The Dublin-based company’s new outlet, based in the former Littlewoods store in Church Street, will be its biggest outside London, totalling 84,000 sq ft.

Give the chain’s high profile over the past couple of years, executives were expecting a good response to the recruitment campaign, but were taken aback to receive applications from more than 7,000 people.

A spokeswoman for Primark told the Daily Post: “The numbers were higher than expected and the calibre of applicants has been excellent.”

The company has been conduct- ing group interviews at city centre hotels over the past couple of weeks. Around 6,500 people will take part in the sessions and will hope to be chosen to fill a variety of full and part-time positions.

Former Littlewoods stores employees have been given preference during the process and the former manager of the Littlewoods Liverpool store, Neil Brogan, will be the manager of the new Primark outlet.

In April, Primark highlighted its continued popularity on the high street as it posted a 28% rise in half-year profits.

Pre-tax profits hit £91m for the six months to March 3, after it opened 23 new stores in the period, taking its total to 161 UK outlets.

The company hit the headlines that month with the opening of its Oxford Street outlet in London, when 3,000 shoppers mobbed the store and had to be restrained by police. Primark has seen its brand grow among shoppers amid a drive, largely led by chairman Arthur Ryan, to provide high-fashion clothing at the cheapest prices on the high street.

Just yards away from the Primark store in Liverpool, rival Topshop is also planning to create its biggest outlet outside London, by increasing its floorspace from its current 11,000 sq ft up to 60,000 sq ft.

It will be created by extending the store in Church Street and incorporating it into Grosvenor’s Liverpool One retail development.

tonymcdonough